You Look Better Sunburnt And Stupid
by BugTongue
Summary: Kurapika and Leorio steal an unthinkable amount of money from a casino and have to lay low for a while. Feelings get involved and its kind of okay.


They burst out of the casino doors at top speed, Leorio ahead of Kurapika as they jumped in through the passenger side door. Kurapika threw the bag into the back while leorio started the car and peeled out, slamming the door shut from the force of their escape. Kurapika was out of breath as he yanked the seat belt too fast and locked it up not once, but twice before being able to secure himself and hold onto the door.

"Left- left! Go left and take the side roads to the garage, we'll get another car and head over the bridge-"

Leorio cut him off as he swerved around the corner, glasses askew and dripping off the end of his nose. "Yeah yeah i know, we went over this like half a million times already, i'm not actually a fucking moron-"

"WATCH IT!" Kurapika shouted as they narrowly avoided a collision. He looked white as a sheet and so alive Leorio wasn't sure hed avoid this kind of action in the future. They sped into the garage, Kurapika pulling the bag from the backseat and stumbling out of the car before Leorio was even pulling into a space. He tripped, stumbled, and righted himself without letting the strap of the bag slip off his shoulder as he rushed to the new car. Different plate, different make and color, and windows tinted to deflect prying eyes.

They blew a tire the moment they made it to the new town.

Leorio was pissed off at him for ruining the getaway vehicle, but leorio could just get over it and appreciate the sheer quantity of hard cash they just made off with. He wouldn't, obviously, no. He chose to bitch instead, bitterly. "You were supposed to let me drive."

"I did, and then your eyes got tired." It was low hanging fruit to point out the obvious and lay blame on Leorio, but it served him right for being annoying.

"I didn't think you'd swerve off the road while I took a few hours off! No, cut it out and stop looking so self righteous. It makes me want to rearrange your face." Leorio slouched in as he spoke to get into Kurapika's personal space, elbows bumping and making the duffle bag jostle.

"If this strap breaks I'll make you carry it, just tell me the name of the next street we need to go down."

The hotel was four stories and had a pool, tucked away out of the main areas of traffic where they'd hopefully be out of sight. Once they were set up there they went back to the car, where Kurapika got to work fixing the tire and Leorio got to work napping across the back seats and giving out correct but useless advice. By the time the tire was fixed Kurapika was covered in a few layers of sweat and ire.

"Start the car and make sure nothing else needs to be done." He wiped dirt off his hands and crawled over the driver's seat to lean his face against his window, waiting for the air to come on.

Leorio grunted, and moved a moment later when it supposedly seemed less like taking orders. He turned on the car and glance over when Kurapika sighed in relief, saying nothing.

The drive home was a quiet one besides the radio, set to a station that didn't hurt Kurapika's ears or make Leorio too nostalgic.

"You did a good job on the tire, I didn't know you knew how." He pretended not to have been glancing at Kurapika with his eyes closed in front of the air vent, hair gently blowing in the artificial breeze.

"Of course I know how to change a tire, as if the family would let me touch their cars not knowing how to care for them." Kurapika didn't open his eyes except to send Leorio a short, annoyed glare. "You did a good job drifting around corners and not crashing into anything."

"Oh thanks, I pride myself on not causing any traffic problems." Despite himself, Leorio smirked, too focused on the road to notice Kurapika's matching one.

[Day 1]

Leorio woke up to Kurapika already in the shower, coffee gurgling to life, and the news on mute before the sun had risen. He groaned and rolled over with the pillow jammed between his eyes and his elbow to block out the world for another few hours.

Dreams came to him in the form of short reviews of the heist. He watched Kurapika pull a gun on six people, felt the time slide by at a sweat drop's pace as he noted everyone's reactions. He moved around the commotion in ways he hadn't done physically, circling the impossibly slow and drawn out interactions until anxiety bit too deep into his gut and forced him to wake up, instantly restless.

Kurapika glanced up from his phone to watch him cross the room in front of the still muted television. "It's past checkout." He was propped up against the pillows on top of the covers, legs stretched out with his ankles crossed and the remote next to his hip. He was watching a different news station now.

"Get us another night." Leorio waved his hand at head height before disappearing into the bathroom.

[Day 2]

Kurapika was pacing. He argued every time Leorio said as much, said he was only checking the room over again, checking the bag, checking the news, checking out the peephole, checking his phone, checking the air conditioner; check check check. He was driving Leorio absolutely fucking insane, and if he didn't stop he might be forced to tie the guy down to the bed. Actually, there was a thought.

Kurapika began yet another innumerable round of checking when Leorio grabbed a pillow and chucked it at him. It sailed too high, but Kurapika caught it anyway and threw it back just as hard. "We should go, I don't feel safe staying this close to the casino."

"Don't care, I already got us another night here." Leorio was anxious too, but he wasn't sure if it was from the crime they committed or from watching his partner in said crime reveal the depth of his unrest.

"Then we lose some money, we have more than enough for that to long since have ceased mattering." Kurapika scoffed and sat on the corner of his bed, a shade off of sulking.

"Hey." Leorio propped his head up in his hand and waited for Kurapika to lift his eyes from the ground to meet his gaze. "Lets just go to that tiki bar across from here and forget how deep we are." He cracked a smile as he saw Kurapika seriously consider it.

"... I suppose that won't be too suspicious, I don't like the idea of being recognized though."

"Let's go shopping first then." Leorio grinned at the face Kurapika pulled. "Or you can stay here and I'll go shopping. I'll even buy you a nice scarf to put over your hair so you really dodge familiar glances."

That got even more consideration from Kurapika than the original bar idea, and five minutes later he was out the door and on his way to the nearest tourist boutique.

The shop was cool and smelled like pool toys and industrial detergent, a welcome change from the heat outside baking up through his boots and pressing down on his suit. He'd be getting himself some polos, shorts, and flipflops for sure, but what would Kurapika want? Slowly and unbidden came the idea, worming its way past his defenses so sweetly it seemed like a good idea, maybe even the best idea. He could get the same clothes for Kurapika, then no one would notice him for sure. On the way to the checkout counter he grabbed a billed hat and a couple pairs of shades to complete the look.

Back in the hotel, it felt less like a good idea and more like he should have taken photos and texted first.

Kurapika looked his three outfits over critically, glancing up at Leorio with discomfort and something unreadable. He took the hat and the glasses and set them on the bedside table for later and cleared his throat. "These will do. I wasn't expecting something so..." He tilted his head and thought another moment. "Revealing seems too loaded of a word for this."

That's about the point he realized never seen Kurapika in anything less than long sleeves and pants. "Shit."

"You've already bought them, they'll be fine." Kurapika quickly folded his clothes back up and set them at the foot of his bed, taking one set into the bathroom to change. He was finicky like that, where he wouldn't give up one ounce of privacy if he could help it.

Leorio changed as well and was done much faster it seemed, unmuting the television and changing it to anything other than news. Some poorly translated cowboy movie was on, which was more than enough to be entertaining. By the time Kurapika came out of the bathroom he was sure his body was becoming one with the mattress. He tilted his head, loosely open mouth snapping shut at the very real image of Kurapika in a tacky floral shirt and shorts, his flats not matching at all. He grabbed the hat and glasses off the side table and put them on, already headed towards the door.

"Let's get on with it, then."

Drunk Kurapika, Leorio decides, is more fun than sober Kurapika, and should be encouraged to happen more often.

Currently on his third drink with a little pink umbrella, Kurapika sat at the counter and giggled at something the person next to them was saying. His glasses were out of place inside the bar and set askew, but he refused to let Leorio remove them for him. He turned to Leorio just then and jerked a thumb at their bar mate. "This guy's great, he's like you but funny."

Maybe drunk Kurapika was better left for special occasions. Leorio pulled a face and captured Kurapika's martini glass, sliding it across the bar towards himself. "I think you're done now." One of Kurapika's hands followed after it and tugged it back by the stem.

"Hey, forget it I bought it already." He successfully retook the glass and downed it in one go, absently letting the rim bounce off his lower lip. Leorio watched sugar crystals fall into his lap or stick to his now vaguely purple lips. Kurapika set the glass down and called the bartender over to order another one, "don't forget the umbrella. I like them." Leorio rolled his eyes.

"Kurapika you are so drunk it's unbelievable. I'm drunk, sure, but you are druuuuunk. You might not even remember this tomorrow." He let his elbow slide over and bump Kurapika's arm, head in his hand. His friend looked up at him and took the umbrella out of his newly acquired fourth drink to tuck it into Leorio's hair. It was an absurd gesture that brought out two solid emotions in Leorio; concern and endearment. When Kurapika brought the glass to his lips Leorio reached out to pull it out of his grasp, only halfheartedly defending it from Kurapika's attempts to steal it back. In the end he let him have his way, and chopped the air near his neck while making significant eye contact with the bartender.

Kurapika sat there for a few moments before getting up seemingly out of nowhere. He grabbed Leorio's arm and pulled insistently. "You do not know how to dance properly, I'll show you. I'll show you how to dance."

"You're gonna show me the way to the fucking floorboards like this." He grumbled but followed anyway, tipsy and willing to have fun while this lasted.

"I did what?" Kurapika looked like death personified with his deep circles and hidden beneath the blankets. They'd drawn the curtains shut to avoid aggravating any sharp headaches and settled in with hotel coffee and bottles of water while waiting for the hangovers to end. Kurapika looked decidedly green.

"You took me to the middle of the bar and proceeded to do what was probably the dirtiest form of traditional dancing I've ever seen." Leorio was petty enough to laugh at his look of mortification.

"Did I tell you the name of the dance? Perhaps it wasn't that bad…" He looked unsure and more than a little ashamed of himself.

"No but it involved some complicated footwork I can't believe you pulled off drunk and hooking your ankle behind mine. That counts as a marriage proposal in some countries y'know." He tilted his head to more dramatically eyeball Kurapika. He watched the other's head fall onto his pillow with a lamenting groan.

"It may as well have been just that, I refuse to explain it any further."

[Day 3]

Kurapika looked like he weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet, which he currently was. He was wearing his entire outfit into the pool and holding onto the edge while drinking from a bottle of something strawberry-kiwi flavored and alcoholic. He seemed to be happily embracing the 'lay low and get drunk' lifestyle, a little more emphatically than Leorio was expecting, but hey. He was fun like this.

And weirdly charming.

And perhaps he should stop thinking about the way his gut did a weird little twist at seeing him with his hat and sunglasses getting sun-sleepy and inebriated in a hotel pool while kids swam around behind him. He was just, pretty like this, the ends of his hair fanning out in the water while the rest of him was damp up to the nose. He kept dipping down so his eyes were nearly touching the surface of the water.

"Hey Pika, don't drown while I get another beer alright?" Leorio got out of his plastic chair and slipped his feet into a pair of bright red flip flops so he didn't burn a solid layer of flesh off the soles of his feet. He looked up to see Kurapika saluting him with his bottle.

"Okay." It was in the local language and it sounded stupid on his tongue, only accentuated by his drooping lids and flushed cheeks. Actually, Leorio noticed most of him was flushed a solid pink and realized they never bought sunscreen. Kurapika had been sitting out here drinking alcohol in the hot sun, steadily baking himself without a single care in the world.

Leorio was not entirely sober himself, but he was lucid enough to sigh and help his friend out of the water. "Come on, up ya go. Let's get back to the room before you get any redder."

"Mmh… Okay." Kurapika stumbled in his hold before wrapping an arm around Leorio's waist. Once they got into their hotel room he more or less melted onto his bed, taking Leorio with him. Leorio nearly landed on top of Kurapika but kept rolling until they were side by side, his flip flops having come off in the move. He tisked and shoved Kurapika's head, which of course only made him giggle and push his chest and face up off the mattress.

"Hey, go get some more drinks from the bar, I don't want to feel my skin right now. It felt bad against the duvet." He looked dopey but sounded serious. Leorio snorted up at him and folded his arms behind his head.

"Yeah I bet you don't, but that's too damn bad. I'll get you some burn gel and maybe sunscreen if I'm feeling generous in the st-store." His breath caught and he stuttered to a halt as Kurapika cupped his cheek in one warm hand.

"You're always generous, Leorio, in a way. Are you gonna go now or what?"

"I'm not generous, I'm a stingy old man remember?" He reached up to cover Kurapika's hand with his own, closing his fingers around it to feel the difference in size before pulling it off and away. "Yeah I'm going now, don't get pushy."

"Mmm... I'm always pushy." Kurapika lay back down, this time on his back, and was either snoozing or resting his chlorinated eyelids. Leorio sat up to watch him for a few minutes, deducing he was in fact asleep when he began to breathe deeply with his mouth falling open. He couldn't help the smile that gave him, his chest warm from more than the heat outside.

"Yeah, I'll remember you said that." He eventually left to get sunblock and burn gel, as well as pain killers. Three things he would need a little less than Kurapika, but could claim as a form of self interest. God forbid he should have to watch his friend wincing while peeling, forcibly sober, on top of the hotel blankets.

When he returned he woke Kurapika up by tossing the bottle of burn gel onto his chest and causing him to make a winded sound of discomfort. Kurapika picked the bottle up to squint at it, then open it and start disjointedly rubbing it into his skin. Leorio took pitty.

"Let me do that, you're not going to get it on right like that." He kept his head down and his eyes on the task, blatantly ignoring the way Kurapika stared at him. He put the gel on his hands and rubbed them together to warm it up, then spread it up one pink arm, then the other. When he got to the legs he started from the top and moved down avoid making it weird, then moved to his face, cupping it in his hands and finally looking him in the eye. Leorio rubbed slick thumbs under his eyes and over relaxed brows, unable to look away once he'd begun, captivated. Kurapika wet his lips and brought Leorio's attention to the bits of skin that came with chapping. He stopped breathing for a moment, then got more burn gel to spread down onto the raw pink of Kurapika's chest.

Two hands stopped him by taking hold of his wrists, and when he looked up he couldn't tell if Kurapika was blushing or if it was just sunburn. "I... Can do that."

"You really can't. I mean, you can, but you might miss-"

"Thank you, it's okay if I miss a spot or two." His grip was sure and Leorio was reminded that he could easily throw his weight around, even if it wasn't much weight. He really didn't want to pull away, but he did, backing off with his palms up in surrender and his chin tilted down.

"Alright," he said, handing the bottle back over. "But don't blame me when you don't heal evenly."

Kurapika nodded and spread aquamarine gel over his collarbones and down below the fabric of his wet shirt. It couldn't be comfortable to still be wearing that, so Leorio bounced up to grab him fresh clothes without looking to see which clothes they were. "You uh, you change, I'm gonna go back out for some lunch. You want anything?"

"Some fruit would be nice."

"Fruit, yeah, some fruit, gotcha." He gave a thumbs up and left with his wallet and room card, heart going faster than their getaway drive.

[Day 4]

The hotel room was quiet; TV on mute as usual with Kurapika's eyes obsessively glued to the screen, air conditioner humming dutifully, and rain falling gently outside in a comforting hush. This meant every derisive comment Leorio made about "unrealistic" and "definitely not up to code" and "wow people cough all over that, no thanks" while reading his trashy medical-themed romance drama was loud and clear despite his low tone. Kurapika was currently on his fourth coating of burn gel and looking less physically uncomfortable, but as the minutes ticked by the discomfort rose right back up. He turned his head to glare at Leorio.

"You can read that outside, you know. There's a ceiling, you probably won't be rained on." He hadn't slept at all last night in favor of watching the news and babying his skin, and he looked like shit especially when the alcohol officially wore off.

"Hmm, can. Won't." Leorio pretended to read the same line five times before snapping the small book shut on his finger, turning to meet Kurapika's irate gaze. He held up the book. "This, is absolute bullshit. I've been in med school for a year and I can't even read the porn because this author clearly has never so much as stepped foot in a hospital. Do you know how disappointing it is to read about some beautiful hips and then be told the ass connected is up on the clinic counter? I couldn't fuck like that, why am I reading this?"

Kurapika snorted against his will and let his head droop before popping back up. "You are such a stickler for the strangest things."

"I can HEAR my teacher yelling at me when I read these scenes, I see her old wrinkled face and I just can't handle it." Leorio slid a flyer for a local barbeque place into the book and set it down on the bedside table. "Also I know way too much about pathogens and transmittable illnesses to ever fuck in a hospital, I'd rather go find a glory hole."

"You're into that sort of thing?" Kurapika turned back to the television without a change in expression.

"Hell yeah. Well, okay no not really, I like making a big deal out of things, Don't think I could- Hey quit asking me weird questions!"

"You are the one who mentioned glory holes, not me." He was doing a very good job of looking uninterested, but the smirk pulling at his mouth left Kurapika looking like a very poor liar. Leorio felt a grin of his own grow and he leaned forward.

"What about you?"

"Hm?" Kurapika glanced over at him in confusion, so Leorio gestured at him.

"What about you? Are you into glory holes?" He was grinning hard enough to show every tooth possible and more than a little gleeful at the look of true embarrassment on Kurapika's face. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and gave a small laugh.

"I'm afraid they wouldn't be much use to me, and I'm certainly not going to be kneeling in a restroom." He turned back to the TV with his mouth firmly shut and his hands linked a little tighter in his lap.

"Hm, yeah I don't see you as the kneeling type either. You seem like the kind of guy who would be bossy in bed." Leorio stroked his chin theatrically and reveled in the way Kurapika turned bodily to look at him, eyes wide and mouth falling open in either astonishment or offense.

"And just how often do you think of me in bed?" He put a hand beside him as a prop while the other grabbed the remote blindly and hit the power switch. "Is this a habit I should be aware of?"

Leorio waved him off. "Nah, you don't show enough skin for me to really fantasize about much." A long silence followed where he began to catch up on a detail Kurapika had dropped earlier, but before he could say anything about it he was interrupted.

"So you... Have though. You haven't a lot but you..." He looked and sounded unsure of himself and that more than anything was what flustered Leorio into backpedalling. He waved more frantically now.

"No no no! Well, I mean... Maybe once or twice. But I didn't mean anything by it and I wasn't going to, it wasn't supposed to come up, and, I mean you're so pretty I- No that sounds wrong uh. I'm sorry, yes, but I wasn't expecting anything. I was just teasing." The more he spoke the pinker Kurapika's face grew until he seemed to be trying to hide in his hair.

And then he was laughing, long and loud and Leorio realized he wasn't embarrassed, he had been holding in his mirth. He grabbed a pillow and chucked it at Kurapika's head.

"You little bastard, I was seriously worried you were going to start clutching your pearls! Fuck you!" That only made Kurapika look up startled before laughing harder. He clamped a hand over his own mouth and tried to get a hold of himself.

"Yes, fuck you, I believe that's the problem here."

That made Leorio shout a surprised laugh and cover his face with his hands, groaning. "I swear you're going to give me emotional whiplash."

Kurapika just smiled and laid down on the towel he'd been using to not stain the bed with burn gel. "Are you nearly done reading your travesty of a novel?"

"Mmh I guess yeah, you planning on taking a nap?"

"Something like that..." With that he drifted off, once again leaving Leorio to watch him silently. He was still a little raw, but it was improving swiftly because of the burn gel and staying out of the sun. The way his face softened in sleep made Leorio want to put a blanket over him, pet his hair, a whole slew of inappropriately gentle actions. He didn't seem too bothered by Leorio's admission of thinking about him, actually he seemed real interested, but he could just be tired and bored. 'And comfortable,' came a small voice in his head.

[Day 5]

Kurapika seemed to be much better by the end of the day, and restless. He couldn't be kept happy by wine coolers and slices of lime, he wanted to go back in the pool and when he was sick of that he wanted to get on the road again. He wanted to start running again, get far enough away they didn't need to lay low anymore, where he could put the money to use. Well, the money that wasn't going to Leorio's philanthropy.

He was looking for something, something he hadn't yet seen fit to really explain to Leorio, but he was secretive that way. Right now he was pacing the Hotel room because he'd been told to wait for the sun to go down to get back in the pool, and for some reason he was listening to reason. Albeit with more than a fair amount of ire. He was antsy, and kept stealing glances at Leorio like he thought he was subtle.

Like he was one to judge.

Ever since their conversation he'd been eyeing Kurapika to catch any sliver of skin he hadn't seen before, any insight into the body beneath the clothes, as well as watching for those soft moment where he didn't seem aware of his own expression. Leorio noted he actually looked sad most of the time, usually when staring off into space.

"Hey, Kurapika? I wanted to know..." Leorio had gotten his attention, and he turned to watch him boredly. Ouch. "I was wondering why you seemed so interested in whether I thought about you in bed."

That seems to fluster him. "I- what?" Leorio pushed on.

"Have you ever thought about me in bed?" He watched as Kurapika's eyes slid to the side for a moment, thoughtful of his response. He pocketed his hands and looked at Leorio again, more confidently.

"A few times. You make it difficult not to." Something about his gaze felt intense, and the words added to the way his insides did a nice little somersault. He swallowed and tilted his head, eyebrows arching.

"I'm sorry, I make it difficult how? By being incredibly sexy and dashing as hell?" That make Kurapika snort and break the intensity.

"Sure, something like that. It's a bit more like looking at something that belongs in a muzzle."

"Rude, you're so rude you don't even know how to flirt, what's wrong with you can't you write a guy some nice poetry to compliment his ass? I, wait, does that mean you want to tame me?" The way Kurapika shifted his weight and looked distinctly guilty made Leorio sit up fully so he could take him in better. "You... Oh. You want-"

Kurapika put up a hand to stop him, nearly steaming from embarrassment. "Just because I want to do something doesn't mean I have any intention of doing so. You're my friend, Leorio, I'm not good to my friends but I don't like to use them either."

"Who said anything about using me, I am all for this idea. C'mon, tell me exactly what you wanna do to me, I'm listening." That got Kurapika to watch him curiously before crossing the room to put a knee on the mattress.

"I want you… To escort me to the pool."

"You suck," Leorio groused and put a hand over his friend's entire face.

When the sun went down they went out to the pool, most people having left for the bars or their beds. Leorio and Kurapika however, took the opportunity of an empty pool to relax and breathe in the night. Leorio took a corner at the deep end to lounge with his arms on the shelf, water lapping at his chest when Kurapika came by on another lap. In the teal and white lights he looked spectral, bleached out and ethereal. Leorio was still considering what he might look like under those clothes, considering the strength he had he wouldn't be as soft as his lithe frame implied.

"Don't you train, Leorio?" Kurapika came near to catch his breath with a hand on the shelf of the pool.

"Train for what, I'm a doctor." Leorio's brow furrowed as Kurapika's expression seemed to open up, his gaze slipping down Leorio's torso.

"So you just come like that with no work?" Kurapika's tone made him laugh, turning pink.

"I'm just really active whenever I'm not studying, I don't normally like doing nothing."

Kurapika gave him a disbelieving look. "You've done a whole lot of nothing at this hotel."

Leorio shrugged. "This is a vacation sort of, one that's going to end with us getting busted or going our separate ways to do what we planned on doing. Besides, babysitting you is all the work I need right now." He laughed at Kurapika's scoff.

"You can't flirt with someone you're babysitting. I don't know much about normal childhoods but that doesn't- wouldn't have flown where I came from." Kurapika seemed to glide forward into Leorio's space, one ankle brushing his calve in the cool glow the the pool lights. Leorio forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Are we flirting? Or, were we?" He wet his lips and couldn't help but appreciate not having to look down at Kurapika like this.

Their eyes seemed to be locked together, and eventually Kurapika spoke, his breath warm against Leorio's jaw. "Can I kiss you?"

"Please," Leorio leaned into it while his eyes closed, hooking a leg around Kurapika's to pull him closer while they kissed. Warm, thin, deceptively strong arms came up out of the water to drape over his shoulders just before he parted his lips for a clever tongue that seemed insistent on making him forget where he was. He brought an arm down to fit a hand against the small of Kurapika's back, and nearly dunked them both in the water when their hips pressed snugly together.

Kurapika laughed breathlessly at him, a quiet sound that made the heat in his face intensify. While he was unreasonably turned on and showing as much, Kurapika wasn't even hard, seemed like he was so not hard Leorio couldn't feel him at all. Cracking his eyes open showed an equally pink face and pupils the size of dimes, Kurapika coming in for another kiss. So not uninterested, maybe he didn't get hard easily, or maybe he was small... He'd forgive himself for thinking so much about this because they were kissing dirty in a public pool in the middle of the night, he was allowed. Being small would explain some of his reluctance to show any skin, but the idea of Kurapika being self conscious struck him as odd.

He was swiftly distracted by Kurapika pushing and rolling their hips together, using their linked legs as an anchor for best results. Leorio responded by making a soft sound against his mouth and taking over the kiss. He gently bit Kurapika's lower lip, then sucked on it before sliding his tongue in along its match.

Kurapika pulled back but licked at Leorio's mouth when he followed. "Why don't we go back to the room?" Leorio was sure Kurapika felt him twitch against him at those words, and he was nodding shortly after.

"Yeah, sure." He let go of Kurapika and reached back to lever himself up out of the pool right where he was, noting the way Kurapika watched him intently before following. Leorio may actually have been nervous about this, it wasn't the first time someone else had taken the lead with him but Kurapika did it so well it made him genuinely feel like a dork. He dried off and swiftly returned to their room.

Kurapika followed, closing the door behind him and coming over to push at Leorio's elbows until he sat on the bed, now in perfect range to be kissed. He put a hand on Leorio's jaw, then pulled down gently until he let his mouth open and stay slack for Kurapika to lick against and around his tongue, circling the tip once in a way that made Leorio feel like he was going to burn through his skin. He breathed out shakily as Kurapika moved to his neck, bringing his hands to a slim waist and moving up under Kurapika's shirt to feel the tight fabric of a much smaller shirt. He toyed absently with the edge of it while his hazy mind slowly caught up. It was difficult to stay focused when wet teeth curved around the edge of his ear, settling on the lobe and pulling.

"Fucking hell, can I take this off?" He ran his fingertips along the velcro seam under Kurapika's left arm but didn't undo it until Kurapika nodded vigorously and kissed him again. Leorio pulled the binder open with a jarring ripping sound and slid his hands inside to the lower curves of Kurapika's chest, pausing again as Kurapika climbed into his lap and pushed him onto his back.

"You can touch. Actually, please do." His face was a deep red and his eyes were closed as Leorio cupped his breasts with both hands, squeezing securely and moving up until he had two nipples pinched tightly between his thumbs and forefingers.

"You didn't say where, you want me to touch you here? Or how about..." He pulled one hand away to press the flat of his palm against the warm skin of Kurapika's ribcage, rubbing one line down until he was cupping his groin through wet shorts. Leorio reveled in the way he shuddered and pushed into his hand.

"I... I trust your judgement..." He sounded winded, a beautiful tone to Leorio's ears that had him helping Kurapika out of his clothes with glee. He pulled his shirt up over his head, then the binder so he could put his mouth on wet skin and savor the taste beneath the chlorine. He pressed his tongue flat to the skin before sealing his lips there and moving down to lave at one pinch-perked nipple.

Kurapika took Leorio's face in his hands and looked down at him, eyes deep red where they could be seen around his pupils. "You're so sweet, just remember we have neighbors." Leorio moaned at the tone of voice, the implications, the way Kurapika had settled over his lap, and wondered in a distant way if he was going to have the stamina for whatever Kurapika wanted from him.

[Checkout]

The bags went back into the car a little tighter than before, leaving the hotel room strangely empty. They had stayed for almost a week and it was enough time to sort out some of their personal feelings, but not enough to truly put them in the clear with law enforcement. They could be recognized any moment, even in their kitschy vacation clothes and deeply tinted car windows.

Kurapika didn't fight Leorio for the driver's seat, but that certainly didn't stop him from passenger seat driving. He read off instructions for Leorio like he might make a wrong turn somewhere and force them to drive by the same traffic cop twice. Finally, Leorio was fed up with it.

"Will you cut it the hell out? I know what I'm doing so just give me the directions and let me drive." He shot Kurapika a look, not keeping his eyes off the road for very long. "If you'll think back, you're the one who ran off the road last week."

He was rewarded by Kurapika rolling his eyes and looking out the window. A strange silence filled the vehicle, one Leorio didn't know if he should break. He'd woken up that morning mostly clean but with his first sight being Kurapika groggily opening his eyes and a few dried smudges of white on his jaw. Leorio had nearly died then and had a hard time holding the wheel steady in the present just thinking about it. He tightened his grip and cleared his throat, shooting another glance towards the car's other occupant.

"Eyes on the road, Leorio." Kurapika put his elbow on the lip of the window and stared out the windshield as if to make his point more obvious, but his tone and the expression on his face were softer than he likely intended.

That was fine, Leorio decided. If Kurapika wasn't going to make a big deal out of it, then neither would he.


End file.
